1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to signal transmission. In particular, the invention relates to input receivers.
2. Description of Related Art
Maintaining data integrity in signal transmission is significant in system design, especially at high bandwidths. As operating frequencies of digital processors increase to meet performance requirements, ultra large-scale integration (ULSI) necessitates the reduction in operating voltages to reduce the increased power consumption. Reducing operating voltages may lead to reducing noise margin and available voltage swings for input/output (I/O) circuits. The reduction in noise margin and voltage swings may affect data integrity in signal transmission for inter-chip data transfers.
One important component of the signaling system for inter-chip data transfers is the input receiver circuit. The input receiver circuit receives signals transmitted along the transmission wires. Since the transmitted signal levels may be attenuated as much as a factor of 10 due to losses along transmission wires, the input receiver circuit faces with a difficult task of receiving and amplifying very small voltage swings of a few tens of millivolts. This difficulty is even more significant when the circuit operates at high bandwidths.